Hi,I'm a new Ham, got my General last month, Extra last week, and have a miniature ham shack in the bedroom.I realize the popular subject is primarily radios and equipment, but it would be nice to join a Ham group that had other interests to discuss, like motorcycling, which is my major form of transportation and interest when the snow isn't on the ground.

I'd like to find something, too. Google shows links to an emergency/event comm site, but not much out there if you're past the 2m, orange vest crowd. Google fails.

I forget to even carry a handheld on my bike. Everything is HF. Not for use while riding, but for setup. It's kind of a unique situation, because I can't really call it portable or mobile - hard to pack an organized go kit on a bike. Sure, if I just want to go out for an afternoon, but I'm taking a 5k mile trip next month and need space. Something as small as a day pack gets in the way on a bike; doesn't fit in the saddle bags well - wastes a lot of space. I've found wrapping each piece individually in a rag and lots of sandwich bags for small stuff works. I have a lot more packing options that way. When I describe this to the average, non-biker, ham I either get blank looks or have to listen to a long discussion on their favorite backpack or utility box. Not that it's not interesting, but doesn't apply. I carry a day pack, too. It rides totally flat empty tied to the 65L pack full of camping stuff I use as a backrest.

The people are out there with bikes and radios, just not much of an enthusiast group. At the last Hamfest I went to, one guy had a bike like mine and was trying to figure away to mount an antenna, not just 2m/440 - but most of the higher bands. Another couple had bluetooth comms between their two bikes, (which is really common - like up to 8 or 9 riders in a group can talk up to about 100 yards), but someone else was commenting about antenna mounting a 2m to do the same thing. Not a lot of places to drill holes on a bike and most clamp arraignments don't work well. Clamp an antenna to a car - looks like a car with an antenna. Clamp that same antenna to a bike? Make it look like a ham sexy wacker mobile. Same thing when going HF - I'd love to figure out a way to mount a 4 foot collapsed jackite pole without everyone snapping pics with their cellphone as I ride by them on the freeway.

Maybe because some people's idea of fun is riding a bike for 10 hours while being hyper vigilant and some part of your body always moving or you die - is different than having fun sitting at the base for 10 hours with a cold brew. It's rare to like both I guess.

Yeah, I even packed my 2M handheld last trip, but didn't use it. Didn't even want to. Got other things to do.The original intent of the thread was to find out if a bunch of riders who are also hams like to get together to chew the rag on a particular frequency on a certain night. I really had no intention of dragging a radio along. Doesn't make sense with cell towers everywhere.If you see a Blue Triumph Trophy whizzing along, it might be me :-)Just got back from WV for a little two day trip. I was supposed to end up in Kentucky, but got off on too many back roads and lost too much time in PA.Three of us are leaving the 27th from Rochester, through PA, WV, and OH to Lima OH for the national Flat Track Races.They are pretty exciting to watch :-)

Nice bike! A little rare, so if I see one odds are it will be you. I've got a 1150rt.

No real net that I know of. It would be cool to have a calling freq. Ham radio and bikes are kind on different ends of the scale. I mean, here they schedule the flat track races really close to field day - what are they thinking? The ARRL Centennial is in Hartford, with the BMW rally the next weekend in St Paul. I'm suppose to ride from Oregon to the east coast, then turn around and blast west. That's a long haul - a ham riders group could lobby these guys.

Carrying a qrp rig on a long ride gives me something to do at night. I do the camping thing, so I have more fun on hf out in the middle of nowhere than I do here at home. With gas prices I can't really afford to drive my pickup all over, but with the bike I'll go set up at the beach, the Cascades, and one of my favorites is any of the salt flats in OR, NV, or UT. Sometimes I think I can hear anyone that keys up a radio. Really, the bands are always full if you take out the qrn. People would be really surprised to know how many times they walk on each other and not know it.

The best bike riding areas also tend to be the best radio operating areas, so that's one thing they have in common - the other is both hobbies lend themselves to long periods without a shower.

I have a Kenwood 2M on my Gold Wing Interstate. Have a 'TTT' (toggle to talk) built onto the one grip. Works ok, when you're on the flat highway, but VERY distracting if there's traffic.

I have an FTM-10SR I bought to replace the Kenwood. But I haven't gotten around to it yet. I may replace the Honda radio with it as well, since the FTM-10SR has AM/FM as well, and CD/audio input. It will also drive the built-in speakers directly. And has BT for two as an intercom.

Unfortunately the Gold Wing has been off the road. Have to get it back on next spring.

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